Throughout human history the story of Ruth stands among the sweetest stories ever told. This is a lady who happens to be in the family lineage of Jesus Christ. As you read her story a certain question begs an answer. Why did Ruth set her heart and determine to follow her mother-in-law to a land and people that were not her own? One thing is truly appreciated by those with discernment and a longing for life’s perfection: Once you’ve had a taste of the superior, to return to the inferior is unthinkable.

Personal Testimony:

     When I lived in the carnal world following my every whim I learned this lesson even though I wasn’t a Christian. In the mid 1980s I was addicted to cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine and crystal meth. My next door neighbor suddenly became a cocaine dealer. His brother, while ocean fishing picked up a package floating in the ocean that was dropped by a plane flying to Miami. It was three pounds of pure uncut cocaine. My neighbor received two of those pounds.

     After some time he told me that he was under police surveillance and how he had to be cautious. So one day, returning home from a symphony rehearsal I saw him coming out of my home. What was he doing in my home? I searched and found a pound and a half of his cocaine stashed in my furnace. I immediately removed it from my home. Had the police busted me I would’ve been the fall guy for my neighbor’s drugs, facing a prison sentence of twenty years. I told him I flushed it. And over the next year and half I partied with all my friends for free.

     Needless to say, the coke ran out, and I was thoroughly addicted. I went to the street and purchased the usual commercial grade: 10-15% pure. But I was so spoiled by the superior that unless I could have the excellent standard I was used to I would not use cocaine anymore. And so, I quit! Nothing righteous in my character in this, just a simple frustration in not having my needs met. But GOD used this principle to help guide my decision.

     In the summer of 1990, GOD separated me from any access to drugs for about two months: that my mind would be clear enough to hear His “still small voice.” At which time came the call of GOD: “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail.” Isa.34:16. An urging tug on my heart began, inspiring me to read the Bible. I was being drawn to follow a path that I didn’t know where it would lead, but the voice in my heart saying, “read the Bible,” had such a quality of gentle decency that I had to follow that voice to see where it would lead. It was permeated with such tenderness and love. I didn’t own a Bible but among my small library of books I did have an old book of my grandmother’s called, “The Story of the Bible,” by Charles E. Foster. It was given to her in 1903 by her mother, Hattie Farrell. This book was a compilation of all the famous passages of Scripture. So I read the great stories of Moses and the prophets, and then of Jesus Christ. My heart welled up with exuberant joy thinking, “There is a GOD who loves me. I have a King who lives to serve; and His name is Jesus Christ.”

     Many wonderful events followed where the LORD led in miraculous ways, showing me His Personal Attention in my life. But within two years of my conversion I fell back into sin. I tried to console myself that it was OK. But in my heart I knew it wasn’t. Having read the Scriptures from cover to cover, the LORD continued to remind me of the appropriate verses for my need to return to Him. Now, I faced a choice: forfeit my love and relationship with Jesus Christ and return to the world of symphony performance, or repent of my sin and receive the LORD’S forgiveness for my sin. When I thought about it, with all of my life’s experiences summing up in my mind I came to the realization that I didn’t like the world, even when I lived in it, with all of its disappointments, its constant betrayal of simple courtesies, and my knowledge of its destiny according to Bible prophecy. I had nowhere to go except back to the LORD Jesus Christ. And so I repented. And the LORD has anchored my spiritual house on His Rock forever.

Once you’ve had a taste of the superior, to return to the inferior is unthinkable!